Hogwarts Chronicles:
by Habibet-Misr
Summary: Hogwarts Chronicles' Is a series of Short Stories about various 'Harry Potter' characters that Im


Hogwarts Chronicles: Severus Snape  
  
Every now and then something terrible happens. I don't know why, but that has been the way my life has worked since the very day I was born. I could dwell on that fact; or I could try to find the good in things. For many years I choose the latter of the two. In so doing, I managed to destroy any chance of friendship, or so I thought...  
  
"My god man! Don't you ever wash your hair?!" The roommate I'd had since I'd come to Hogwarts put in such a delicate manner.  
"Of course, I do it every time you brush your oh-so-pearly teeth," I retorted. Not my best, but it would do. Id been teased my whole life for that. I was unable to wash my hair very often due to the fact that as a child I'd contracted a rare allergy to soap and shampoo products. I would instantly break out in hives. But did anyone ask me? No. They choose instead to tease...to ridicule instead.  
I settled down on my bed, reading the bit of parchment my sister had sent me. My family may not have been one of the well-known purebloods, but we were just that, none-the-less. The exception being my sister Karra. She'd been heartbroken the day she'd expected her Hogwarts letter and it hadn't come, it's still a bit of a touchy subject fro her. Karra had been one of the few people that knew the real me. The 'real me' had become a mere stranger, it seemed, outside of my family's home.  
  
Dear Severus,  
I can't believe you're on your 6th year already! That's Fantastic news! Mum, Dad and I are so proud of you! I may not be able to join you there, but I'm not just sitting here on my bum and twiddling my thumbs; I've managed to get a real job! (Of course it has to be in the muggle world, but it's a job none-the-less)  
I'm now working as a teacher in our old elementary school in London. I, Karra Marian Snape, am a teacher at the very school I nearly fluncked out of! Can you imagine?  
Dad has found a great job at the Gringotts Bank. He's now the head clerk at the exchange office. It's so cute Severus; you should see the way he comes home and talks for hours about all the strange and unusual customers he has come by everyday. Mum often stops by to bring him his lunch. Have you ever met two people more in love? Well, I suppose I'll let you get back to the studies you're no doubt putting off.  
All my love, Karra  
  
I chuckled to myself. How was it, I wondered, that Karra always seemed to know just what I'd be doing at the exact moment I would tread her letter? Hogwarts or not, I am still convinced my sister has the 'third eye' as they call it. I rolled up the parchment and stuck it into the box located in the trunk at the foot of my bed that I'd reserved for Karra's letters. It had a spell upon it that would turn anyone but me who dared open it green for a week. To my knowledge it had only been used once. If I had been as dedicated to my studies as I should have been, perhaps I wouldn't be in danger of flunking out of 'Care For Magical Creatures.' It wasn't that I didn't think the class was important that had me in danger of flunking; it was the fact that I found it dull and boring. The only class that had ever really interested me was 'Defence Against the Dark Arts.' My grades only seemed to underline that point.  
So I grabbed my books for my classes and sat dowen to study. Little did I know, I would not get to study that night. Just as I'd cracked open my 'Divination' book for what was probably the first time in weeks, a tap came at the window. I looked over, and there was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. Her long red hair seemed to wave, back and forth and again. It was dark, but I could still see the freckles lining her nose. Her green eyes seemed to glow from beneath the moonless night. I went to the door and opened the window. "What are you doing out there?" I asked, surprising even to myself, without even a bit of gruffness in my voice. To shock me even further, I held out a hand to help her into the room.  
She smiled at me. "You must be Severus," she said. Her words seeming like pure poetry to me.  
"Yes," I replied, too taken back to say anything further. She smiled at me and held out her hand for me to shake, I took it. "I'm Lily," She said and then looked around the room, searching for something. Then it hit me. Lily. He'd been hearing that Name for the past couple of weeks from my roommate, James Potter. She was his girlfriend. This beautiful creature, was my roommate's girlfriend, boy could I pick'em.  
"James is just there." I said, pointing to the lump on the bed across the room. "He's already fallen asleep it seems," I added. No matter what my normal habits were, I couldn't seem to be my 'normal' self to her.  
She smiled again. "Well, I don't want to wake him...he's been so busy lately. Would it be rude of me to ask a chat of you?" Her eyes seeming to be veiled. I gestured towards the bed. "Sure, I was only putting off my studies again." I tried my hand at being funny. It seemed to work as she laughed a little and made her way to the bed with the grace of an angel. The rest of the night was a blur to me. Although, I don't think I'd smiled that much since I'd left home. By the time she'd left, it had been nearly midnight. The next day, I found myself in an almost cheerful mood. That, was an extreme rarity as I often spent the morning contemplating what kind of prank James and his bunch of baboons would pull on me and the afternoon pretending I didn't care, this morning was different. Even my teachers seemed to notice it.  
"Mr. Snape, I wonder, may I have a word?" The bearded headmaster asked me about a week later. I nodded and followed him to his office. I remember the entire time we walked, I was trying to figure out what I'd done wrong.  
We reached his office and he gestured to the seat next to his pet phoenix. "Don't worry Severus, he won't bite you," he assured me, as though he could read my thoughts. "No sir." I replied as I sat in the big comfy chair, still a little uneasy. "Am I in some sort of trouble sir?"  
The old headmaster chuckled his reply. "Oh, quite the contrary young Snape. I've asked you here to find out your secret." My secret? I hadn't the foggiest clue what he was talking about.  
I guess it must have shown on my face, because as far as I know, Professor Dumbledore doesn't read minds, though it seems like it at times.  
"Your grades, your general disposition and well, your general hygiene seemed to have improved this past week," he said as he fiddling with some sort of a paperweight on his desk.  
"Has it?" I played dumb.  
"Indeed," he said as he nodded. "I have your report card here. You've managed to not only pull through Care of Magical Creatures, but all your other classes as well. In fact, you've not got one grade on this card less than a B." He said, handing the bit of parchment over to me. "Oh," I managed. "Well, I don't know what I did differently....but I didn't cheat if that's what you think headmaster."  
"Of course not." he replied and got up, ushering me out of the office. "I mearly wanted to congratulate you." He shut his door behind me. I smiled to myself, I couldn't wait until Karra heard about this.  
The same day I sent Karra a letter, she sent one back to me. I grinned, despite myself, from ear to ear as I read it.  
  
Dear Severus,  
High marks in all your classes! That's fantastic!!! Mum and Dad nearly had a heart attack when I showed them your letter! We were all a bit shocked. We knew you had it in you! I wonder, what's changed? You seem different in that letter, not just the grades, but the way you wrote in it. Well, whatever it is, KEEP DOING IT!  
All my love,  
Karra  
  
I couldn't help but laugh at the letter. I could almost hear my sister's voice in it. I tucked the letter away and sat down on my bed. I was about to pull out my books when something occured that had never happened before, James Potter came on my side of the room. "Hey Severus, what's the deal?" He leaned against the window pane.  
"What do you want?" James was the closest thing I had to a mortal enemy. So I sat there with a scowl on my face and my arms crossed.  
"I WANT you to stay away from Lily. She's got this idea in her head that you're some sort of a nice guy." His own face scowling. Lily thought I was nice? I couldn't believe it. "Well, I don't know what she's doing with a jerk like you." Definitely not my best comeback. The response was even less desirable. Next thing I saw was a fist flying towards my face. I landed on the ground before I could register what had happened. Before I could get up, Lily was kneeling on the ground next to me. "James! Why in the name of Merlin's beard did you do that?" She picked up my very much dizzy head and laid it in her lap. James might be a jerk, but he packed a mean punch.  
"He said he didn't know why you were with a jerk like me...I was defending myself." James muttered as though he was trying to convince himself otherwise.  
"At the moment James, I'm not in total disagreement with him." She looked down at me, her hair cascading around my face. "Are you alright?"  
"Yeah." I got up and using all the will power I had not to hold my face. "I'm fine,"  
I managed to spit out. I was so dizzy I fell sideways a little. Okay, a REALLY good punch. "Oh god. James! How hard did you hit him?" She caught me as best she could.  
"Really, I'm fine," I said and sat on my bed. The bed was a lot closer than the floor. "Don't worry about me Lily." I was trying to be tough. She wouldn't have it. "Why is it that men must always be stubborn fools?!" She climbed out the window.  
Both James and I sat there in astonishment.  
The next day, I saw Lily. Sitting under a tree by herself, looking pale and sad. That wasn't the thing that struck me as odd, it was the fact that she was alone that did. It was a well known fact that James always ate lunch with Lily. The other two things, however, persuaded me to go up to her.  
"Lily, are you all right?" I crouched next to her.  
She looked up at me. "No," she said bluntly. I felt my heart go out to her. I sat down and watched a tear fall down her freckle covered face. "Don't cry Lily...it'll be alright." I tried to comfort her. She shook her head. "James and I had a fight....we've never fully gotten along, but we haven't fought since we started going out," Lily explained. I could tell by the look on her face, she really loved the guy. That, I believe, is the very moment that I realized Lily and I could never be together. Deep down I always knew it, but I didn't fully realize it.  
"All couple's fight Lily." I said, playing with the grass next to me. "It just makes you stronger."  
"That's what everyone says, but I don't think it's all that true. You were right yesterday, James Potter is nothing but a big jerk." She said, looking down at the knees she'd propped up. "Lily, please don't cry. Look, I know that James isn't my favorite person in the world, that's no big secret, but he loves you." I managed to choke out without adding my own feelings to the mix.  
Lily looked up at me, her eyes shining. "You really think so?" I nodded and despite myself, lay a hand on her shoulder. "I know so." I looked into her eyes. If I wasn't going to have Lily, she'd damn well at least better be happy with who did.  
Lily let out a nervous giggle and wiped her eyes. "You're right, he does love me." she let her legs fall. "You're right." she whispered, as though just realizing it. She got up, walked a few feet and then ran back and gave me a kiss. My first kiss, to be exact. "Thank you," she said and continued off to find James. I sat there, on that grassy excuse for a hill, thinking about what had just happened, for a good hour. I had just sent the girl I was sure I was in love with to go and make up with her boyfriend. Not just any guy, the guy I loathed the most. My Enemy. James Potter.  
After that, James and Lily got back together; I went back to my normal 'scowling' self and everyone seemed content once more. Everything was as it was only a few months before well, almost everything. James Potter never played another prank on me again. To this day, I think things would have turned out differently, better even, for Lily if I'd asked her to be my girlfriend that day, instead of sent her back to James. I suppose I'll never know for sure. But I often wonder.... 


End file.
